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Aboard the Sea Wyvern, the heroes and the crew gathered around the deck as Viselys gave a rousing speech about courage, valor, and tenacity. All aboard were deeply moved by his stirring words. Captain Amelia thanked Viselys for his speech, while Saris only groaned; “Words are wind! Who needs a speech when you have my blade on your side?”

Shortly afterward, the final preparations began. Ornrik was so busy, he was beside himself; casting spells on Saris, Viselys, Adameus, and several other crew members…not to mention the spells cast on the ship itself.

Finally, the moment of truth came. “Here they come!” said Adameus quietly, as he hid among the deck gear. The others waited below decks with keen anticipation. First came the familiar glow of a fiery ship, then the jolt and thud of a ballista bolt embedding itself on the main mast, then the roar of a fireball cast against the center of the deck. Everyone took their final positions; their locations obscured by the illusions cast about the ship. Adameus and the others observed several figures approaching the ship, flying through the air by magical means.

Suddenly, Skald unleashed an arrow at the nearest aerial figure, a heavily armored cleric. “I don’t remember that being part of the plan, “ grumbled Adameus angrily. The cleric now knew the Sea Wyvern was ready for them and began to cast spells of his own. First he unleashed a fiery light ray at poor Skald, then the battle began in earnest. The cleric moved ever closer to the deck, where Saris was waiting for him. Quickly the two began exchanging blows. Ornrik tried to get close to Skald to heal him, only to discover to his surprise that he had turned visible; this was no low-level cleric that with whom the heroes were dealing. Meanwhile, the aerial archer and sorcerer were doing their best to kill the heroes, launching spells and firing arrows, but all seemed to go astray. The fire elemental moved toward Cedric and Viselys, where they, aided by their protective spells, soon dispatched it.

The enemy barbarian slowly swam toward the ship, and then began climbing the hull. Adameus watched him, invisible and with his own fly spell intact. He moved silently behind the climbing man, positioned his sword at his back, and thrust with all his might. The barbarian screamed in fury, and twisted around to face his now visible attacker. With a herculean effort, he leaped off the ship and tried to tackle Adameus and drag them both under the waves. By an amazing stoke of luck, Ademeus’ flying spell held up both of them, and the two figures wrestled in mid-air jabbing and sparring with each other, but both were unable to do any real damage.

The heroes on deck would surely have been fireballed cinders, but for the fact that the enemy sorcerer was now beset by several giant bees who buzzed and whirred around him, stinging with celestial fury. It got so bad, that the enemy archer had to constantly turn and fire his arrows at the bees, rather than his true enemies on the deck below.

At this same time, an assassin climbed aboard the back of the ship and quietly entered through a hatch; Tolin and Zan were waiting for him. The poor assassin barely got the door open before getting hit so many times, his head was spun around. He soon dropped dead from multiple injuries inflicted by the Jade Ravens.

Outside, Adameus and the barbarian were still dancing a deadly aerial dance, until the barbarian lost his grip, and with a quick shove went straight down into the water. Now, badly wounded, but enraged beyond common sense, the barbarian climbed back aboard, where he was promptly hit several more times and fell dead onto the deck. Now only the archer and sorcerer remained, but they still had those damned bees to deal with. The sorcerer tried to move away, thinking he could escape the pests, but one got in a lucky sting and the sorcerer went limp, and joined his fallen comrades in the deep. Now only the archer remained, alone, plinking away desperately with arrows, as the heroes and the entire crew stood on deck awaiting him patiently. Saris called out to the man; “You know you could just surrender.” Just then another missile hit the man and he went into the waters as well. Saris smiled grimly; “or you could just die, instead.”

Quickly the fallen enemies were searched, and their booty was collected. “I pray that we could have recovered the items from those enemies who fell into the water,” said Ornrik solemnly. Just then a lookout spotted a magnificent bow floating on the water near the ship, where it was instantly scooped up.

“Looks like your prayers were answered, dwarf," said Viselys with a sardonic grin.